Freedom of Expression in Canada

It is said that Canada turned the page on a discredited past when it constitutionally entrenched freedom of expression in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This chapter surveys Canada’s forty-year constitutional experience with expressive freedom. Our inquiry reveals a record that is more modest than transformative. We trace the course of developments on subjects such as offensive speech, dissent, and speech on public property. There is a particular focus on expression in private domains, for example, on private property and on social media platforms. An over emphasis on the public private-divide, a wariness about blockades and other physically expressive activities, and a too easy reliance on law enforcement models to police speech, suggests the promise of constitutionally protected freedom of expression has yet to be fully realized. Despite its claim to being a ‘fundamental freedom,’ much work remains to secure the central place freedom of expression should occupy in the evolving Canadian constitutional landscape.